Hop-On Hop-Off tourist wars

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Janek Rubeš & Honza Mikulka, Prague based journalists
#HonestGuide

[@HONESTGUIDE]

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[@Chikapappi80]

Hi Janek and Hanza! Your videos were shared by my dear, dear friends from the Czech Republic ( Filip and Milo) and these videos are great for new travelers to your country. I am visiting CR in October from the 18th to the 25th and I would love to meet you at cukrar Skala to have some amazing deserts featured in one of your videos 🙏🏻😍

[@vvorldnewsmedia]

journalist hahahahahaha

[@paddyjoe1884]

This may sound naive, but doesn't Prague have a pretty good public transport system? I seem 2 remember having no trouble getting around town what's the point of these buses then?

[@Pashka70123]

My family is there right now and having a great time thanks to your videos 👍👍👍👍👍

[@Darwinek]

The point is to scam naive tourists of course. ​@@paddyjoe1884

[@Liriri]

You know right away - if any type of seller in Prague recognize Janek, that is a red flag 😂

[@EVBell-gz8iv]

but wouldn't that mean any locals who watch their videos are suspicious? their content isn't only watched by foreigners, they also run a channel in Czech, and literally everyone i work with downtown would recognize them, they're quite successful and the world of Prague tourism isn't that big. i've recognized him several times in old town...so maybe this is a red flag 😅

[@_hepukt4e]

Many would recognize them. The real red flag would be the busineess that aren't happy to see them on their porch imo

[@CZpersi]

Scammers afraid of being exposed in the upcoming video. Great! Janek is making an impact.

[@t1czer]

We need rubber masks with Janek face!

[@Fragenzeichenplatte]

@@EVBell-gz8iv > but wouldn't that mean any locals who watch their videos are suspicious? No. OP said seller, not locals. > i've recognized him several times in old town...so maybe this is a red flag Are you a seller?

[@jeohist]

Hop-On Hop-Off buses are for those who want a bus experience at taxi prices with the reliability of Old Town Square meat sellers

[@tetsi0815]

Not all of those type of tours all over the world are this type of extreme rip-off. I had - admittedly some like 10 years ago - some good experiences with those type of hop-on hop-off tours in various cities. Depends all on the company - so some research upfront might be helpful and don't buy those tickets spontaneously.

[@janvrabec3401]

@@tetsi0815 Not in Prague.

[@tetsi0815]

@@janvrabec3401 I've watched the video... ;-) I was just trying to make an educated guess, why some people might book those tours.

[@qwe5qwe566]

@@tetsi0815 It's always overpriced and it's better to use public transport. At least in Europe.

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

@@qwe5qwe566 in any city in any country it’s always better to take the public transit

[@maranello1979]

In one of THE most walkable cities in Europe, Prague is the ONE place where these Hop-On-Hop-Off buses serve no purpose. It's literally quicker to walk between every major sight in Prague, and you don't need some 24 hour, 35€ ticket to do it. In 24 hours you can literally see everything in Prague by self-guided walking tour.

[@IvanPompa-lr7iy]

Or even, if you dont like planning a lot all the places, you do a free walking tour, which charges nothing and you pay what you think it is fair

[@jamesey]

I agree with one exception. Old people who suck at walking. In these cases, find a private guide to drive you around.

[@beth12svist]

The 24 hour ticket for the public transport is less than 5 Euros, for comparison... I definitely would not say you can see everything in 24 hours - but if you only want the big photogenic hits, then yes, I guess you can.

[@VaclavSir]

Is there a city where these make any sense?

[@patrykuss]

@@VaclavSir London maybe?

[@jwbeaton]

We watched HONEST GUIDE *before* going to Praha and avoided this scam - you can too :) Public transportation was amazing with true hop-on-hop-off, almost no lines, and we easily walked around the old city! In fact, our whole week in Paha was scam-free thanks to Honest Guide! Thanks guys!

[@polemta]

The minivan at the end looked like someone just voluntarily got kidnapped XD

[@jryan9547]

They end up in some human butchery place in Eastern Europe like on the movie "Hostel" lol

[@Coachiggs]

this!

[@tracexcze5408]

@@jryan9547 for that you need a Slovakian taxi with a toothless old guy.

[@idesel]

😂😂😂

[@CZpersi]

Whenever a stranger approaches me with the words: "Hello, my friend!", especially with a thick accent, I know it is time to leave. Here in East-Central Europe, we do not make legimitate business by hustling people on the street. People, who are "suspiciously friendly" are usually scammers. Locals may feel cold and dismissive sometimes, but they actually just mind their own business and respect your privacy.

[@PowerControl]

Same in Germany.

[@stevecarter8810]

"hello my friend!" Holds out hand to shake "what is your country?" This is the first stage of owning a new suit in Singapore, of paying 50x going rate for a drum or a bowl in Nepal, etc. Etc.

[@Pidalin]

Exactly, and it's not a racism when I feel weird beying greet but indian guy with red umbrella, it just feels suspicious to us.

[@JorgeGarcia-lw7vc]

For 35 EUR you can get a day pass for public transport and two short-medium distance taxi rides from AAA or Uber, plus if your're a tourist, you can just walk.

[@aralka01]

You can get a full week of public transport for that price, which also includes city trains and little ferries, and you'd still have some money left for ice cream.

[@solaireastora5394]

For €35 euro you could get a 24 hour public transport ticket, go to Prague castle, buy the two tickets needed to see everything and buy a pint

[@Katie-xd1nt]

in dublin 25 euro would cover an entire week of pt

[@JorgeGarcia-lw7vc]

@@Katie-xd1nt Moral of the story, never take the BigBus scam

[@shreychaudhary4477]

@@Katie-xd1nt here in the US 25 euros is the cost of a single 100ish-mile train ride to the state capitol

[@FlameEmber]

Having to get scammed to expose scams is truly a sacrifice. Thank you both 💓

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

If you know it's a scam going in, is it really being scammed?

[@JanPopieluch]

I've just been to Prague last weekend. There are literally warnings at the airport to beware the red umbrellas. I don't get how it's still a profitable business.

[@Witchkingx5]

because the average IQ is 100

[@Arcidi225]

​@@Witchkingx5 which means half of population have less than 100, and I guess that's an issue xD

[@vladik56]

because some people just don't do research and just go to the first thing they see..

[@Mighty_Ogrelord]

Old people who come to Czechia by car. (It took them 3 days because Gertrud was holding the paper map upside down)

[@FenceThis]

or why it’s legal at all

[@olgagicala7886]

God, we have the same plague in Kraków, except that, from what I've seen, there are fewer companies operating in our town. It makes my blood boil when they block the tram stops to conduct their shitty business. Great reporting, as always.

[@HopelessTom]

So start the Honest Guide Krakow!

[@RonaiHenrik]

I used to be part of the official tourist information staff of Budapest. We were legit but we had to also sell the tickets for all the Ho-Ho buses for a long period of time. If the salesperson brought the tourist to me it was already too late but when the tourist came directly to me to buy Ho-Ho tickets I always tried to give more context and information and alternatives. If they then decided to still buy Ho-Ho tickets, at least they had more information to base their decision on. I always told people who were above 65 that they can use our public transport for free (it's the same in Hungary, yes) and I believe I have saved hundreds (if not thousands) of Euros for tourists in my city.

[@TramBusAl]

« Not all heroes wear capes »

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

It's not even just about the money saved, now they go home and if anybody asks about Budapest there's at least that one good interaction, no matter what else might have happened.

[@douglund6945]

Oh contraire!!!! Public transport is only free for European Union senior citizens. My wife and I were "arrested" in Budapest last year for not having bought tickets for the subway. Our Viking Cruise guide also told us that those over 65 travel free and we foolishly believed her. The transport Nazis stopped us at the turnstile on the way out and demanded we pay fines. There was no one at the Oktagon Metro stop to double check nor were any signs posted. We rode three different Metro lines to get to Fõvám Tér where we were stopped by 4 ticket checkers. None of whom spoke English. We showed them our US drivers' licenses to prove our age but they didn't seem to understand. After close to half an hour of trying to communicate they used Google Translate to tell us we owed two large fines. They indicated that the free tickets were only for EU citizens. We explained that we were visitors and were misinformed. I offered to go up and buy valid tickets but these bullies refused to let me do so. We begged for a written warning which would certainly have been the case back in America. They wouldn't budge and demanded I hand them my credit card. I didn't feel comfortable doing this as I heard many stories about tourists being taken advantage of in Budapest. Eventually we did pay 12,000 HUF each in order to finally escape from their clutches. I even complained to the BKK main office after returning home. No offer to rectify things or even an apology. Non-Europeans, no matter the age, are better off buying Hop On/Hop Off bus tickets in Budapest. At least those people smile when screwing you.

[@icesport333]

​@douglund6945 i believe they changed it to free for all above 65 this year.

[@sergeyromanov5560]

@@douglund6945 not true, for anyone over 65.

[@enriquejhc01]

Just the fact that a local says they love the public transport in their city is amazing to me!. I love these videos

[@kaitek666]

funny thing: big bus operates in my city, London, too. but here they have the Elizabeth Tower (more known as Big Ben!) in the logo. this makes tourists believe its a genuine London attraction, while in reality its just an overpriced traffic jam simulator :) thanks for the vid. we've been to Prague a year ago and we enjoyed it a lot thanks to you both.

[@BMC2]

At least in London it's a guided tour

[@yyunko7764]

We have them in hamburg, they are not really scammy, just kind of pointless when you can walk, or cycle anywere, and public transport is just as good, but tourists sometimes want things to feel touristy I think We also have ferry boats you can ride for 1.80€ yet people choose to spend 20€ on guided boat tours that visit the same places the ferries go to

[@onlyNaizo]

BigBus is operating at the whole World :)

[@vf1923]

There's a hop-on-hop-off bus that drives around Toronto to locations easily accessible by transit (or by a relatively short walk, but sometimes people who don't live in a cities aren't used to walking or walking in cities) but they do at least offer a running commentary. I think that people take these is a sign that people are either intimidated by the transit or just need more signs to help them get around. But that's not surprising. Lots of local transit systems are not super accessible in terms of the key steps, like finding a station, buying a ticket, navigating a station, getting on the right train, or knowing how to find a thing when you get to the other end. For some reason, it's endemic among transit systems that ease of access is not really a priority, even to ordinary locals taking a route they normally wouldn't.

[@GadgetAndKite]

"They suck... as we get started." Nice.

[@derpzbruh]

love this. right at the beginning im sure people missed it

[@aadammohiuddin6844]

As a NYC resident we have the same big buses and hop on hop off in our city and I just dont understand why people use them. They cost up to $60 USD per day and barely move with the NYC traffic as well as useing the bus lanes reserved for offical MTA buses. Our MTA system is very intuitive having bus routes in all 5 boroughs as well as the subway system connecting everything together. It costs $2.90 per ride and caps out at $34 for the week. The rest of your trips after that is free. And this can be mixed with any offical MTA mode of transportation including, the subway, busses, trams and ferrys. Ok the MTA is not the perfect system (nor will it be) but its miles ahead any of the tourist buses that you see passing times square.

[@louisverges7092]

Why is the guy at the end sounding like a comic villain? "Hello Mr. Honest Guide" "Of course we know you" lol

[@InfinitiveStar]

Gypsy-vibe little folk.

[@kamo7293]

saying "Mr honest guide" as if he caught you red handed... when actuality they're the ones caught red handed, with red umbrellas. made me laugh that he was trying to be intimidating 😂

[@KikkawaRyu]

When i visited Prague the public transport was so much better than the UK, took us all over, to Prusa Research, back to town etc never waited more than a few minutes for any of them either

[@empressdoinalot]

What part of the UK? London transport is miles ahead than the rest

[@KikkawaRyu]

@@empressdoinalot I'm in Essex but even Prague public transport is still better than London I've found

[@empressdoinalot]

@@KikkawaRyu so then be specific

[@KikkawaRyu]

@@empressdoinalot doesn't really matter where in the country tho, as you stated London is ahead of most places yet Prague beats London therefore Prague also beats UK

[@empressdoinalot]

@@KikkawaRyu that's not how it works. London is 1 place in the UK. It's not the UK on the whole is it? Transport in Edinburgh beats transport in Essex. That's not a representation of the whole of the UK

[@Taranjotsgaming]

bro i saw ur 2 videos and i became ur fan thats something cool cz ur teaching people the good thing !! keep it up man

[@MrExoticSnow]

Your videos are really helpful when I am going to visit old castle, great square and big library in Praha.

[@matejkuka797]

as a local, I'm really ashamed of this! either this is such a big corruption that no one from the city management cares, or I really don't understand it

[@jryan9547]

Blame the tourist...why don't they do their own research before going? Maybe some even like this...I dunno...seems awfully expensive to pay to sit in traffic lol Just walk or take a tram. You'll see more walking anyways!

[@vitkrivan9380]

dont be...these buses are everywhere, definetely not just prague

[@Atlent112]

scammers are just much more efficient at finding out loopholes and exploiting them, anywhere, anytime, than any government is able to patch them up. Making new laws takes time, especially in big cities, where there might be multiple parties affected, consultations must be held, protests must be ruled out, often opposing political fractions must come to an understanding and agreement... it takes time. And two days after the new law is introduced, scammers will find another loophole, or just blatantly ignore it, knowing that scamming will get them more money in one day than they have to pay in fines every few weeks when they get caught red-handed.

[@Wreckdiver59]

I've been on hop-on hop-off busses in several different cities in the US and have always been satisfied. They were efficient and there were tour guides on each bus giving running commentary on the sights. It can work if the effort has been put into it.

[@yo5947]

@@vitkrivan9380 sure but the prague ones are uniquely dogshit, prague is small and full of traffic

[@irisimnida915]

Thanks to you guys! My first ever visit in Prague early this year was amazing. Prague can be easily roam around and explore by foot, and it was such an experience to see each building/architecture and to walk on it. Just taking it all in. We used the public transportation and it was such a smooth ride, no delays, we loved trams! I know Im a tourist but tour wisely you know and Honest guide is such a big help for us! all the tips and hacks, etc.

[@mfhex1398]

Wow, how cool is is that seniors can travel on every bus for free. Respect, Prague 😍

[@tomcollins3794]

I've done the Big Bus in London, Madrid, Paris, and Rome (all 2 years ago) and can honestly say that only London was worth it. That is because for all the rest, the buses try to cover a lot of sites but those sites are scattered so you end up spending a lot of time not seeing much of anything. The stops are also far between so if you get off to explore, you have to walk a long distance (or use the same stop) to get back on. In all the cities, traffic is an issue so you end up stopping a lot. However, London is different for a couple of reasons. Traffic is there but flows as efficiently as the English intend it to. There are many stops close by so you can short walk to the next. Plus, the entire route of the London bus has something historic or cultural to see. Bottom line, I will probably never go on a hop-on hop-off bus. I like to walk while the people I was with the last time did not.

[@lummatravel]

Even in London, there's regular buses that hit most of the same sites for £1.65 per hour

[@hyrle750]

I've also ridden it in Manhattan, and it was okay. If you want to go to specific places, it's better to just use public transit. But if you want to just listen to the corny soundtrack and see the "greatest hits" of Manhattan, it works. But it works best if you want to hop on and stay on.

[@dasmysteryman12]

I’ve been in one when I was in Edinburgh and Liverpool almost ten years ago. They’re great if you don’t have time and want a quick look at the sites. But if you want to go anywhere, public transportation is best.

[@MarcLucksch]

@@dasmysteryman12I took the one in Edinburgh last year and it was combined with the castle, palace and royal yacht for 48 hours. Tour was interesting as well and I didn’t feel like I was paying too much. I used the busses a lot while exploring the city. Not sure if using the normal busses would have been cheaper, but I think it was actually the same company that runs the normal ones.

[@MarcLucksch]

I just checked the prices, and compared to the attractions plus 2 day tickets, I saved about 1 pound by getting the combined ticket. Plus the normal busses don’t have the recorded and live tours, so it was not a scam if you visit the attractions. Just the bus compared to a day pass is a loss of 13 pounds though, not sure if the tour is worth that

[@bokhans]

The driver getting out taking a picture of you gives me mafia vibes! 🤔

[@Doogsa-dl8sc]

Yes.

[@christopherd.winnan8701]

Great work! If only every tourist town had an Honest Guide KZbinr....

[@chantalboudreau-lemay5869]

I came back from Prague yesterday and thanks to you we did not take the on/off. We took the tram and we paid on it with credit card but still be prepare to walk a lot and enjoy the view, great vacation

[@colaxxi]

I did one of these buses in Berlin, and it was to-be-honest pretty decent. We really didn't have any traffic, and while we could have done the same route using the S or U-bahn, it was nice to be outside in an open-air bus on a gorgeous day. And it took us to a few destinations we were already going to go to, without really having to think about it. My guess is that these are hit-or-miss based on the city. Prague, being pretty compact, makes this not as useful. Berlin is surprisingly spread out on the other hand.

[@Kreutzfeld1337]

We have something like this in Hamburg too. But its in cooperation with the city like in Berlin. In prague it seams not to be the case :D

[@suzettecalleja3122]

I am so impressed with the information you put together. The research and time you take to give the tourist an knowledgeable and enjoyable time in your city is beyond measure. Not to mention the work you do to bring the corruption to the attention of city government and tourist. Thank you. ❤😊

[@Lwize]

I blame the tourists on this one. They should do - even a little - research in advance of the best ways to get around and see the sights. For any city they visit. Five minutes of pre-planning can save so much lost time standing around waiting and sitting in traffic. Prague public transportation is excellent, in case anyone hasn't mentioned this before...

[@chantalboudreau-lemay5869]

I guess they’re not to blame ´cause it really works in other countries, like in the province of Québec, CANADA

[@Tudsamfa]

Do you also blame your grandparents when they fall for the obvious "Call from Microsoft"-scam? Just 1 Google search would expose that fraud, really, it was their own fault. No, Scammers are, as always, the scum of the earth and deserve the worst for this. Trying to blame their victims is idiotic.

[@cehaem2]

@@chantalboudreau-lemay5869 I've been to Quebec and Canada in general and used public transport. Unlike Toronto Montreal has a decent transit network and Quebec City is pretty small.

[@vladik56]

well a lot of people have tiktok brain so they don't check stuff out and then things like this happen.

[@Tudsamfa]

Do you always blame the victim of scams? Even if your grandma gets a call about her hacked computer?

[@esheodincanal]

Finally someone speaking up on hop on hop off being a scam experience in 9 out of 10 cities

[@simon5007]

This is really good information, but I am a bit surprised. I tend to enjoy hop-on hop-off tours, and have mostly had good experiences (including with Big Bus which are "featured" in this video) in many other cities. It's a convenient way of getting information while not putting too much effort into it. It allows me to spend my energy on the things I really want to do and see, while "passively" getting to see the main sights. I'm happy that you gave this warning, as I would have been likely to book this otherwise (specifically with the exact same company as you used). These types of tours are certainly an aquired taste, but even if you like them that is dependant on them being well managed, cause no one likes waiting for buses or sitting in traffic. The only place i've been where I really hated such a tour in the past was in Barcelona, which had the exact same issues. Presumably this is based on the fact that the streets just aren't well set up to support the amount of traffic it has.

[@Colleen1701]

I took the Hop On Hop Off in Verona and Barcelona. The bus in Verona was well worth it. I had a planned list of activities I wanted to get donr, and the bus took me directly to those sites woithout the hassle of trying to locate them myself. The bus in Barcelona was crap, for the reasons you stated. It was hot and there was too much traffic. There was a hop on hop off option in Venice, Italy as well, but you would be much better off just grabbing a vaporetto and going yourself to Murano and Burano. Maybe it depends on the city?

[@SuperRookie117]

0:17 "They suck...as we get started" I see what you did there ;D

[@luke211286]

In many European cities, a 7-day public transport pass would be cheaper than a day pass of hop-on hop-off

[@VaclavSir]

Including Prague. We don't have a 7-day pass, but if you buy 2x 72 hours + 1x 24 hours, it will cost you 780 CZK (~31 EUR), and the hop-on day-pass was 870 (~35 EUR) in the video.

[@gary8306]

@@VaclavSirThankyou for the information👍🇬🇧

[@Pidalin]

That's what I loved in Pula, they normaly have that oldschool system that you pay to the driver for one ride (it cost always the same) or they use those weird tickets with chip inside (I hate it) so you don't know what is loaded there, but you can go to central bus station and buy 7day ticket for pretty good price and problem solved, you don't have to care about that.

[@squirrelbrains2197]

For most European towns, just get yourself a day ticket for public transit and one of the free touristic paper maps.

[@Mrfort]

Hop on hop off, but beware operating hours are not 24hrs as sold, many ending at 6 pm, and start at 10 am, so you board a bus at 10 am, it ends at 6 pm , but the clock still continues over night.

[@Gingerouz]

I have used such buses around Europe, I find it a convenient way to get around the cities I visit and to see different places. but will definitely avoid them in Prague when I visit hopefully next summer

[@edgarbran9822]

Services like those offered by these buses may seem appealing to some since they present themselves as predictable and friendly, especially for non-Europeans. Having been in several European and American cities, I must say public transport systems can be intimidating, especially when combined with previous bad experiences, language barriers, or when your home country has nothing similar. Buses are basically the same everywhere. I used "Big Bus" eight years ago in Paris and Barcelona and really liked it, since it was my first time in Europe and I was alone. It's biggest appeal for me was that it was predictable and tourist-friendly, meaning the people on the bus were polite and not bothered if you ask them something or speak in English; the bus also had an audio guide, and I was surrounded by other tourists. This year, I went to Paris again and saw that much had changed. There was a lot more traffic, more companies, their routes were a lot shorter, and it didn't make much sense, so I just got a day pass for the metro. Compare that expectation to a situation like the one I had this year in the Paris metro. Being used to automatic doors basically everywhere, I didn't know I had to push (rather hard) a turnstile and a set of doors after scanning my ticket; I didn't, and the attendant got mad and started complaining in French and broken English when I asked him if there was something wrong. He started saying something like "These people... first time in Europe...". That, combined with people jumping around the turnstiles and forcefully pushing the doors open without paying, and the fact that the doors were broken in some stations makes for VERY confused tourists, and one can easily make the mistake of thinking the same could happen in every city. After that, absolutely everyone I encountered was nice, but I can see how some people can be deterred by such interactions and prefer being stuck in traffic than risking having a local insult them or try to take advantage of them (ironically, the bus companies are doing just that). Thank you very much for your videos! They've made me strongly consider visiting Prague in the following weeks, and I appreciate all your insights, since they apply to almost any city in the world, and help everyone see that there's nice people everywhere.

[@mlemImlem]

Thank you so much for making this video. As a tourist, it saddens me to see so many people getting scammed.

[@vyhozen]

We visited a Germany city in 2019 and went on a hop on hop off tour. We got front seat on top of the double decker bus and so we decided we go a full tour with such a nice panoramic view from the front. After the full circle, they told us we cannot continue because we were supposed to get off at places and little did we know if you complete a full circle, it is finished and you had to buy a new ticket. Shame on them for not stating it anywhere. A 24 hour ticket is way better in this case.

[@douglund6945]

That's weird. I've done countless laps around London, Budapest, Athens, Tenerife, San Diego, and Paris without ever deboarding. In fact, I've gotten some great naps up on top of those buses.

[@diegoparga9324]

I’ve done the hop-on his thing in Buenos Aires and Mexico City and they were pretty good. I just had a couple of hours after work, before getting to the airport, and it was pretty convenient to do a full circuit and get a layout of the city

[@CastorRabbit]

There are many places where it works fine

[@taskinhp]

And also "...In Prague, seniors from 60 years of age can use discounted (approx. half-price) tickets..."

[@chantalboudreau-lemay5869]

65 y old

[@bar10005]

@@chantalboudreau-lemay5869 65+ is free, as Janek said in the video, 60-65 can use reduced/half-price tickets.

[@romanc189]

@@chantalboudreau-lemay5869 60+ is half of price; 65+ is free.

[@_batman_CZ]

​@@chantalboudreau-lemay5869 60y-65y 50% sale, 65y+ totally free (proving id, passport)

[@nikolasioakimidis3003]

Lmao, they are a scam everywhere

[@brixtonkiwi]

I thought they were ok in Sydney tbh

[@onlyNaizo]

I was in Prague two days ago and yes the public transport is very awesome. Sadly, i did not known, that its free for people over 65, but its ok because its very cheap.

[@DrQuatsch]

Yeah, when I visited Prague in 2019 (which unfortunately was only for 2 days), I used regular public transport. I bought the day tickets immediately on arrival in the hlavní nádraží. Trams seemed like the best way to go from a to b. We walked quite a lot as well, but as we were staying in a hotel in the south, we always took a tram to the station and then went from there. We didn't have any issues with it. It ran smoothly and punctual. To be honest, these hop-on hop-off tours are in any major tourist city. We have them in the Netherlands as well in Amsterdam I think. And they are always a tourist trap. It's just best to stay away from them completely.

[@gregorhi2]

There's another scammy detail that is worth mentioning. They sell you a 24 hour ticket but the service only runs a limited time. Big Bus for instance only runs from 09:37 to 17:37.

[@skaarfvagly3959]

My first trip abroad was through a college program, and I was told to never take those busses. Always use the public transit in foreign countries. Travel like the locals.

[@Arjay404]

Paying 35 Euros to just be stuck in traffic on major roads is insane. Even the busses I take for public transport give a better experience than what I saw and keep in mind that those are "functional" lines, that are meant to bring people to places they need to be like home, work, train station, hospital and so on. The boat part of it seems a bit better because you get to see the city from a different angle which you can't by yourself and it doesn't get stuck in traffic

[@Johnny_Explorer]

I have been fortunate enough to visit your fair city twice and will be making my third visit this December. During our visits, we have always used the public transit and had great success in getting around. I have used the hop-on-hop-off style buses in other cities, but they are not as densely packed as Prague. So a first time visitor, especially an older one, may default to using that mode of transportation not fully understanding what they are getting themselves into. Thanks for producing such excellent videos that should help people to understand the ins and outs of Prague.

[@VincentLander]

Back in the summer of 2012 my sister, brother-in-law, and I took a tour of central Prague given by a guy in a 1960s Škoda Felicia cabriolet. It was a fun experience.

[@kazkasKitoBaisaus]

Two sides for this story. The tourist busses are currently terrible in Prague - too many different companies, too much waiting. The other part is on Prague itself - there really should be be 0 private cars in the Old Town. I know it's inconvenience for locals, but most of tourist cities ban all but public transport in old towns.

[@zweck4629]

Just.....walk, thats what I do. Its faster, more convenient, free and you actually get to experience the city instead of insane inner city traffic.

[@wowJhil]

Public traffic looked SO much nicer! But when I was there I did walk to everything :D

[@cujotwentysix7519]

My favourite experience of Prague was doing a walking tour back in 2013. I wish I could remember the name of our guide, but she was lovely, funny, and it was just such a great way to get to know the old town area

[@juliakalchhauser8788]

As a well-travelled and Prague-loving Austrian, I can recommend a walking tour. Did those "free" walking tours in so many cities around the globe, the base concept is the same everywhere: It's run by someone who REALLY tells you a lot about the city and in the end YOU decide how much it was worth to you. Win-Win.

[@grewdpastor]

Nice video. I have been to Prague several times (once due to a congress and otherwise for short vacations). The public transportation in Prague is indeed great and, moreover, the most interesting parts of the city are easily reached on foot. 😃

[@PascalGienger]

1:1 the same in NYC - those hop on hop off buses are the pest. Times Square full of those vendors with red vests and red umbrellas... Often you can find normal regular city bus lines which also passes many famous sites. Here in Boston we have the Ducks - also the method to pull money out of tourists...

[@alexdrum94]

They suck. As(s) we get started. Most under rated intro ever.

[@Zerg111ful]

Дякую за вашу роботу , дивлюсь з насолодою !)

[@redeyeman06]

We ALWAYS use the trams or walk when we visit Prague. Never taxis or buses!

[@idesel]

You're doing a good service to your city. Making sure tourist who end up seeing your videos are unlikely to fall into tourist traps and go back home hating your city.

[@steve83803]

We purchased a 3 day Metro, Tram and Bus pass and travelled everywhere within the city quickly and efficiently for less than half the cost of the tour tickets

[@Aktivist1000]

2:00 Regarding the accent, the pusher wasn't even Czech.

[@Pidalin]

Ofcourse he was not Czech, these companies use their weird workers imported from all over world, I believe it's some kind of trade with white flesh and police should really look into it. I see the same thing even in fast foods, we have like 10 black people in Prague and all of them work in KFC, isn't it suspicious?

[@zipfotoproductions2934]

You need to branch out!! We need Honest Guides in EVERY city!!! Start recruiting! Great work guys 💪💪💪💪

[@y2julio226]

I've been guilty of using Hop-On Hop-Off buses in 3 cities during my last vacation. I used them to get a layout of the city and see which sites I would want to come back and which sites to skip.

[@marteverasen9924]

We always do these buses when we’re in big cities, and we’ve always had great experiences! Paris, Las Vegas, London, Rome, Berlin, even my local capital Oslo, they were all very good. Well, Las Vegas was slow due to extreme traffic, but the rest was well worth the money. Takes you to all the touristy places without having to plan so much, and change bus, metro, etc. We love them! Never been to Prague though, will keep this video in mind 😊

[@Angarsk100]

Thank you for showing this. I've been on this kind of busses in: Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and Rome. All of those were quite nice, helped us getting around many of the places of interest, so naturally, we would get on them on any other cities, it's good to know they are not all the same.

[@burkeiowa]

No word or phrase to learn? I thought we'd learn "hop" or "Hop on"/"Hop off". (again always preferring it up front rather than at the end so we can recognize it in the video, if it shows up)

[@bany6870]

As a local, we call hop on/hop off buses as it is called in english. But "hop" is different story, it could be translented as "poskok" or "skok". The difference between "poskok" and "skok" is that "skok" is usually translated as "jump". But you can use both, people will understand.

[@Yelonek1986]

Yup, they are getting sloppy. It happened in another video and was add in editing. Come on Janek! Do it up front, so you'll never forget it!

[@stepgames7698]

That would be "Naskoč / Seskoč" ! You wouldn't call the buses that, but it is what the text means and is telling you to do.

[@Pidalin]

We don't even have Czech name for these buses because we don't need it, nobody uses it.

[@Marenthyu]

When I visited Rotterdam, we were advertised the free "Rotterdam City Card" with a Discount for a Boat Tour. We did it and it was brutally on time (we had to run to get it, but we managed) and the Tour was really nice! (Even if it was 4-language automated descriptions of what could be seen) We also got a walking city tour by some locals that showed us a couple nice places and told some stories. It was also nice, and free!

[@tetsi0815]

There are some cities in the world, where those hop-on hopf-off busses actually make sense and are - at least in my option - worth the additional cost compared to the normal public transport. They can be a nice tour to give you an overview of the city and things to see and maybe revisit on your own later. E.g. the one in Kuala Lumpur was pretty nice a couple of years ago. Take the first bus in the morning, go around the whole tour without hoping off and pick what you want to see later and then go around the second time and actually hop off where you think its interesting. I did a similar thing in Panama City. So with those type of positive experiences in mind I can understand why people try this. Unfortunately there are a lot of different of those companies these days that specialize in ripping off tourists instead of wanting to provide some good experience.

[@IzzyWithDaGlizzy]

Visited Prague for a few days last week (absolutely beautiful city), and when I got to Wenceslas Square we saw them everywhere! I was wondering what Janek was gonna make a video on! Keep up the great work!

[@Tailssonic1999x]

How expensive is Prague? I'm planning on going somewhere for a week come Spring (I'm I the UK). I mainly want to see old architecture, museums, heritage sites, and alo like a bitof decent nightlife. Thinking of Slovenia or Serbia, but still not sure.

[@DKMDrake]

I think this is a waiting video just so Honza can show off his gorgeous Speedmaster. Great watch Honza!

[@noitallmanaz]

If I ever go there, I am going to be the most informed tourist ever. Thank you!

[@jryan9547]

are you like me? Ive watched hours and hours of video's on Prague and CZ. I could prob become a tour guide lol

[@leeman1525]

The only hop on hop off bus I use was in Helsinki. There it wasn’t bad. It was free with a pass I got to go to some of the museums I wanted to see. I doubt I would have ever paid for it but it was interesting to do a complete ride through and listen to different thinks about the city

[@phileascurtil5605]

Honestly if you live in a touristic city in europe you already know most of the tricks of tourist traps, you just have to change the language and minor details. I fully agree about the public transportation quality in Praha. In 4 months it had sometimes a slight delay but almost always exact to the minute as planned.

[@cijmo]

That is too bad about them being so crappy there. I use HoHo buses and Big Bus when I'm in a new city just to get oriented with the city and have very good experiences everywhere but Istanbul. (I lived there at the time and took my friend on there because I can't walk well). They drove everywhere but no commentary LOL. Everyone was listening to me!

[@EricaGamet]

Yes, I've used them in London and Oslo. Have to say though that it's super confusing there, too. Was in Oslo last year and, even though I know the city well, my elderly mother was with me. We decided to just ride the bus around through the whole route (never even got off). But finding the right bus to get on seemed to be a theme as many passengers tried to get on and were told it was the wrong system. Definitely a hit-or-miss but I do like to take it to get oriented. I won't be taking it if/when I get to Prague!

[@lstx17]

You didn't emphasize enough that it goes completely against our public transport system. We have lots of good bus lines but they don't run nowhere near the city center for a good reason. So how on earth is this allowed?

[@carolinevanderschoor1442]

I was in Prague last summer and we (family of 4) stayed in Flora. We bought day tickets for public transport and used busses, trams and metro. The kids traveled for free! It was perfect and we had great views from the trams. I never understand why people pay for these tourist traps.... BTW: loved the city!

[@Pidalin]

It's allowed because we are stucked in 90s, everything is mafia and politicians are corrupt or they just don't have balls to ban something because it would make someone angry. There is a constant war against car people, but politicians will do nothing against cars because they know that even car-nazis are their voters.

[@kazaabitboll2026]

The bloody HOP on Hop off bus in Helsinki was only hop on then get off. The took my money and dumped me far away from my cruise port. As the last stop no return I had to find a cab in the rain, not an easy feat.

[@sandrab.5065]

Janek and Honza, you guys are gems. 😃 Thanks for sharing your experience with Hop on Hop off buses. OMG, another charity scam at the square? One thing I learned from the Honest Guys: Avoid people who approach you under the guise of a charity. These predatorial scammers are always looking for loopholes to make money off of unsuspecting tourists. 👎 PS The boat ride on the river looks worthwhile.

[@WhitedevilEE]

So glad I saw that Video! We were in London once and they had Hop on-off Busses as well. They were a BLAST! Almost every 10 Minutes a Bus, both ways! And we saw SO SO MUCH!!

[@kevwwong]

I think I’ve done a hop on, hop off tour once. It was in Los Angeles and it was part of a citypass. It was fine for that reason - it didn’t cost us anything extra on top of what we had already done. I don’t think I’d ever do this as a standalone.

[@pc3585]

One of the reasons I have used hop on hop off buses when traveling is for the commentary during the trip. However, I have found the recorded commentary to be lacking or not working. The staff on the buses were indifferent to the recorded commentary not working. The only positive hop on hop off bus experience I’ve had was in new New York, where the commentary was done by a person and not a recording.

[@AndSoWeLaughed]

I clicked on this just because I've had both good and bad experiences, and I want to know what others' experiences are. My first hop on hop off was in Canada, Toronto. I had no idea what it was, but we got it by chance. No-one sold it to us on the street, we just happened upon the counter. They sold us student tickets without proof (I did have one, but my sister didn't), and they were lovely. It even included a day trip to Niagra Falls + Boat ride. Our entire trip was made by the Hop On Hop Off. We used it to get around the main attractions (we got super lost, haha! but the driver was lovely each time and saw us running down the street and waited because he saw us walking around lost trying to find the bus stop - the road had roadworks and the stop was just known by the drivers), got discounted or free access and the tour itself was great ON the bus. It was truly hop on, hop off, and we used it ALL day. Niagra Falls was even better; it was breathtaking and of great value for money. Because of this great experience, we (my sister and I) ended up trying many other ones on different holidays. None of them ever compared. Our most recent was in Korea and it was AWFUL. No information on the tour, they had headphones for different languages but they didn't work for ANYONE. They should have let you know about changes to the tour when purchasing the ticket too. It wasn't hop on hop off, it was literally just a bus ride to all the stops, so people used it like a normal bus route instead of a TOUR, and I don't think they cared because there was nothing tour about it. Again, no information, no stop points to take photos, and no heads-up. The bus was dirty. We were so glad the ticket was FREE as part of the Seoul Pass but I'd never pay for that again.We just wanted to see attractions before our Seoul Pass ran out, and a lot of them were on the route and didn't even get to do that. I'll try again in Singapore later this year but I'm very much over them at this point.

[@markofsatan9617]

I have used the 'hop on hop off' buses in both Italy and Spain and found them to be reliable and useful. Great for seeing around Naples or Barcelona. Not all 'hop on hop off' are like these.

[@bjornroesbeke]

7:51 Meanwhile, incognito Honza is still waiting for his handshake.

[@BxJokerBx]

Had the best of times in your beautiful country thanks to you !!

[@ChristiaanHunter]

i love how everyone knows you, keep up the good work

[@paxiahern2383]

Known by scammers. Honestly a good endorsement!

[@Czechbound]

If the Ministry of the Interior _only now_ is saying 40% of revenue must go to the charity, imagine how much they must have spent on kickbacks to politicians over the last 15 years to be allowed to get away with EU 0.40 per EU 35.00 ticket going to charity ( probably a charity that they draw a salary from ).

[@RomeoMan]

Good stuff man! Just discovered you ! A lot of people need to see this and great that you are doing it !

[@hulme187]

Love your channel. Been watching for years. I'm from England but live in South Korea. Keep up the good work!!

[@kitten3137]

When I was in Prague last month, me and my family used to travel through Prague only by foot and underground/metro. 24h tickets saved us a lot of time and we could have small moments of chill during blazing hot days.

[@cid-chan-2]

I've been on some hop-on-hop-off busses over the year in germany. In general, I expect them to be a guided tour around the city. And those with live commentary are sometimes good. But those with pre-recorded commentary usually sucked badly. In all cases, they were hideously expensive, and I usually got a better product when booking myself on a walking tour with a dedicated tour guide. Those are almost always very well done.

[@berlineczka]

I wonder what is the experience with these buses in other cities. Back in 2005 I was for a weekend in Dublin and used the 24h hop on-hop off buses and made a good experience. It was practical as many of Dublin's sites are far away from one another and many are not (or weren't when I was there) open to the public so seeing it from the bus & snapping a picture was enough. Some are also not easily available via public transport. There was only one company running it, there were no "volunteers" pestering tourists (we had to go to a kiosk next to one of their stops to get tickets), there was an audio guide on board (with your ticket you were given single-use headphones that you could stick to a socket in your seat, and it had 3 or 4 languages to choose from) and the waiting times were short (I think the longest we waited was at the Guinness Museum in the evening, it was some 15 minutes - but we were informed that the buses get less frequent after a certain hour). I don't remember the price exactly but it was somewhere around "a bit expensive but a good value considering the alternatives available". Overall a good experience. But yeah, it was 2005, so pre-mobile Internet, pre-Uber and pre-convenient public transport payments, so this may be a factor. And it wasn't in Prag, which seems to be absolutely pestered to the brim with tourist tricksters.

[@jamieusaa]

I did a walking tour. Worth every penny! No one showed up. We were the only two! We even got an extra tour when she brought us back!

[@pf4773]

I'm a seasoned traveler and occasionally use hop on buses. In many many many cities the hop on buses are fine! I love Prague, so thanks for the warning, that you don't need it there. But, that said...yep, in cities with expensive taxis and let's say, you are a cruise line traveler with maybe 6 hours in the city and 3-4 destinations to hit, yep, the hop on bus may be ok. You can get tickets sometimes for $35-$40 and if you were to take taxis around to 3 destinations you would pay far more to get back to the pier. So, that said, it depends---check out the reviews of any tourist service prior to using it. Thanks again for some of the best travel videos I've seen. I loved your video just seen on three cups one ball scammers in Paris.

[@Indianoamericanorussiano]

That Indian tourist recognised him right away.

[@mikes5784]

Hello Honest Guide, currently in Prague and have come up with some ideas for you. First we spent like an hour at the train station trying to figure out how to get to the C line. Maybe you could do a show on negotiating the train station. Another is the history of the public transportation, there all kinds of carriages and some seem fairly old. Maybe talk about the the system evolved. Finally, we went to the Kolkovna Olympia and had goulash and beef cheeks, 2 separate entries, they were great and for me I’d recommend it. 2 entries, 4 half liter beers and dessert with 20% tip just under $50! 😮 but the goulash came with 2 types of dumplings, bread & potato. Great trip, our favorite European city hands down. 🎉

[@Kenzie_Hill]

When I travel, my friends and I (I've done it with my family of 4) hire a taxi-van for the day -- like 9 am till 6 pm. 100 to 150 euros or dollars is a great deal for the group to split. Plus they take you to the site's door, restaurants, shopping, and will wait for you. 1/2 up front then 1/2 at the end when you are back at your hotel. We also gave a big tip when done. They'll chat about their experience growing up. Best trips are this way.